Chapter 12

The world spun. Wen Ran panicked and opened his eyes wide. In the dim light, he saw Gu Yunchi wearing only pants, hair half-wet, water droplets still clinging to his upper body, rolling one by one down the shark-muscled chest and abs.

Gu Yunchi bent one knee between Wen Ran's legs, his lips flushed red from fever, eyes sharp as he stared down at him. But his words had no warmth: 'You released your Pheromone.'

He was too tall, almost blocking the entire view above. Even at half an arm's distance, Wen Ran felt a terrifying pressure radiating heat. His body sank into the soft bedding, his voice trembling slightly: 'BDH-339 told me that Grandpa Gu said my Pheromone could help you...'

'Guess you're not actually stupid.' Gu Yunchi's gaze was heavy, scanning his face inch by inch. 'You even know to use Grandpa to pressure me.'

'That's not what I meant.' Strange—the scent was getting stronger. Wen Ran's limbs were starting to feel weak, but it shouldn't be from fear alone. He didn't understand. Fine sweat broke out on his palms and back. These reactions felt foreign and terrifying to him. Words tumbled out, 'I just... wanted you to feel less awful, so you'd... get better faster.'

'Don't need it.' Gu Yunchi suddenly let go, bracing his hands on the bedding beside Wen Ran's neck, chest heaving. 'Get out.'

Then get off me first... Wen Ran gasped a few ragged breaths, heart pounding. His head was completely filled with the scent surrounding him. In his daze, he kept thinking. Suddenly—the answer. He raised his eyes, dazed: 'I can smell your Pheromone.'

'No shit.' Gu Yunchi gave him a cold sideways glance.

For Gu Yunchi it was obvious. For Wen Ran, it was a bolt from the blue.

He could smell an Alpha's Pheromone. That meant he was no longer a Beta. The artificial Omega Gland on his nape and the Pheromone were completely changing his sex. Wen Ran had once thought of the Gland like a tumor—something that didn't belong to his body, uncomfortably buried beneath his skin. But now it had actually developed into a full organ. There was no going back. He could only accept it.

Through the Neck Ring, Wen Ran reached back to cover his faintly feverish Gland. Maybe the shock was too much—he actually said: 'Your Pheromone smells good.' Then asked, 'What does my Pheromone smell like?'

No normal person would ask that in this situation—Gu Yunchi raised his other hand and gripped Wen Ran's face, forcing his chin up slightly, leaned in, took a controlled breath, then asked in a hoarse voice: 'Can you not understand human speech?'

'I can, don't be mad.' Wen Ran's face hurt, his words slurring. He pushed at Gu Yunchi's shoulder with his hand, palm hot and damp—couldn't tell if it was his own sweat or water from Gu Yunchi's body. Softly, 'Don't squeeze my face, I'll leave right now.'

Gu Yunchi looked down at him, breathing heavy. After a moment, he suddenly released him, stood up beside the bed, lips pressed together in irritation and impatience.

Sitting up on the bed, Wen Ran's face was level with Gu Yunchi's lower abdomen, where he could faintly see a sliver of Adonis line peeking above the waistband. Being cautious, he moved slowly, even glanced up to check Gu Yunchi's expression—and read restraint and suppression in those eyes. Felt like the prelude to a beating. Wen Ran immediately slid to the right and stood up.

Carefully edging around Gu Yunchi toward the door, Wen Ran risked his life to remind him: 'If you drank, remember not to take the Fever Reducer.'

Gu Yunchi said: 'Shut up. Get out.'

The coldness of his voice made Wen Ran suspect he'd start cursing any second.

Logically, after being soothed by a high-match Pheromone, Gu Yunchi should have been calmer. Why did he look even angrier? Wen Ran couldn't understand.

After leaving the room, Wen Ran stood there in a daze. BDH-339, thinking he'd actually been hit, asked worriedly: 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine.' Wen Ran slowly refocused his eyes, summarized briefly: 'He told me to get lost.'

'Same old, baby. Don't take it to heart. The Chairman will understand too. It's fine.'

Wen Ran spaced out for a while longer, then suddenly raised his hand and turned the Neck Ring to its lowest setting. BDH-339 shrieked: 'Are you planning to get in bed with him!'

'Huh? No.' Wen Ran said hazily, 'I just wanted to smell it.'

He wanted to smell what his own Pheromone smelled like. Right now he was panicked and lost, realizing his sex had fundamentally changed. Confused and terrified, he didn't know whether to be glad the surgery succeeded or to grieve for himself. His body felt hollow, yet heavy.

He sniffed carefully for a long time but couldn't smell anything. Yet Gu Yunchi could. Wen Ran couldn't even smell his own Pheromone, but he could smell Gu Yunchi's. High compatibility really was something impossible to understand or break.

He gave up. He'd smell it eventually. Wen Ran readjusted the setting, rubbed his face with both hands, and said to BDH-339: 'Your young master washed his hair and didn't blow-dry it.'

'I've had it up to here.' BDH-339 cursed as it pushed the door open to blow-dry Gu Yunchi's hair. Less than three seconds later it came back out—Gu Yunchi told it to get lost. BDH-339 concluded: 'We're not dealing with him anymore.'

'I'll go in after he falls asleep.' Wen Ran wouldn't dare not care, 'I'll stay in the room for a bit, it should help, right?'

'Helpful, helpful, thank you, you're so good.' BDH-339 hugged one of Wen Ran's legs, 'I contacted the chef, he'll come by later to make you some little breads.'

Wen Ran felt pressured: 'Don't bother the chef with late-night snacks in the future. I won't be that hungry at night.'

'Okay, next time for sure.'

Eating the freshly baked Croissant, Wen Ran was so overwhelmed by the aroma he nearly passed out, and decided to take back what he said about not being hungry at night.

'Hehe, I knew you'd like it.' BDH-339 said, 'This baker was brought in from abroad. He comes back once a week to make breakfast for Gu Yunchi for one day. Gu Yunchi really likes his bread too.'

'Just one day? What about the rest of the time?'

'Other chefs do it the rest of the time. There are over twenty chefs cooking for Gu Yunchi total. They rotate shifts—mainly to keep him from getting bored of the food.'

No wonder every meal tasted different. Wen Ran said: 'I've gained five or six jin recently.'

'Wow, that means the meal plan the nutritionist made for you really works!'

Wen Ran really wanted to gain weight. He'd been skinny since childhood, and the period right after surgery had worn him down to skin and bones—he was always drowsy and tired. Recently that had improved a lot. He had more energy overall, which was thanks to Gu Yunchi, in a way.

After eating four Croissants in one go, Wen Ran blankly licked the corner of his mouth. BDH-339, as if afraid he wouldn't burst, held out the plate with another one: 'Eat more, eat more.'

He wanted to refuse, but the Croissant smelled so good. Wen Ran thought for a moment, then took it and stood up: 'I'll bring it to the room. If your young master isn't asleep, he can have it.'

'If he's asleep, then sorry to trouble you to keep him company.'

'Okay.'

The room was pitch black. Wen Ran carried the bread and felt his way forward. The sensor light strip under the bed lit up. He glanced at the nightstand—the Inhibitor and medicine hadn't been touched. Gu Yunchi lay flat on the bed wearing an eye mask, breathing unsteady, his face an unhealthy red.

Wen Ran touched the Neck Ring and turned the setting down one notch. After a beep, the high-match Alpha Pheromone, faintly tangled with the scent of Croissant, drifted into his nose. Wen Ran felt a bit dazed. The sensor light went off. He sat down woozily on the carpet, back against the bed, and in the dark finished the Croissant like a little mouse.

Sweetness in his mouth. Wen Ran felt his way to the bathroom to rinse, then came back and sat down. He lay against the bedside. In the quiet, he heard Gu Yunchi's breathing become calm and even, gradually lulling him too. His eyelids grew heavy with sleep.

Wen Ran rested his head on his arm. He thought he should set a vibrating alarm to remind himself to leave in two hours, but he was too tired. So he just vaguely thought about it without acting on it, and finally closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Hazy, Wen Ran woke at some small sounds. He was cold. He touched his arm—cold. No idea where the blanket went. He heard a soft 'beep,' then the curtains slowly and silently drew themselves open. Morning light hit his face. Wen Ran squinted, struggling to think. When did the room get automatic curtains? Where did the jacaranda tree outside the window go?

Something moved on the bed. Wen Ran rubbed his eyes, climbed up confused, and came face to face with Gu Yunchi, who was also half-sitting up, in the first ray of morning sunlight.

Dead silence. Cold, angry Alpha Pheromone filled the air. His heart stopped. Wen Ran snapped awake. This was Gu Yunchi's room. Gu Yunchi's bed.

No time now to precisely reconstruct how he'd ended up in the bed. Probably sitting on the floor leaning over to sleep was uncomfortable, so half-awake, half-asleep, by some instinct he'd crawled up to the foot of the bed, then—foolishly—slept peacefully until now. No wonder he couldn't find the blanket. It was under him.

'Sorry.' Wen Ran apologized to that expressionless face that seemed cold enough to carve an ice coffin and bury him on the spot. But words had limited power. Nothing he said could quell Gu Yunchi's murderous intent. He could only struggle in his dying breath: 'I didn't mean to.'

If only Gu Yunchi's bed weren't so big, Wen Ran thought with a dead heart. Then he'd have been kicked off in the middle of the night and woken up—at least he could have cut his losses in time.

'Didn't I tell you to get out.'

His post-fever voice was low and hoarse. Wen Ran shuddered. His gaze panicked, racing between Gu Yunchi's sleep-mussed hair and bare upper body, not knowing where to look. In the end he could only look at that frosted face and answer: 'Yes, you did.'

'After you fell asleep, I was worried you'd be uncomfortable, so I came in and sat by the bed, planning to leave after your fever broke, but I accidentally fell asleep. Sorry.'

Every word was true, but Wen Ran still heard, with a sinking feeling, a flavor of making excuses and playing innocent in his own words. Not to mention what Gu Yunchi must think—probably already convinced he was taking advantage, planning to use Pheromone as bait, trying this and that.

The air was heavy. Gu Yunchi, wearing a cold face that didn't believe a single punctuation mark, suddenly got out of bed and walked toward the foot of the bed. The light was bright, every inch of his upper body's skin and muscle clearly visible. Wen Ran panicked and turned his face away. In his peripheral vision he saw Gu Yunchi grab the corner of the blanket—he thought he was being so diligent as to fold the blanket, was about to leave immediately—then his vision went black. Gu Yunchi flipped the blanket over him.

Vision gone, Wen Ran still blankly staring with eyes open. Then his body went empty—he was efficiently wrapped in the blanket by Gu Yunchi, who hooked an arm around his waist and lifted him up. Gu Yunchi walked fast. Wen Ran came to his senses, had a premonition he might be thrown off the second floor, panicked and thrashed in the blanket: 'Sorry... can you wait a second! I...'

Gu Yunchi didn't slow down at all. Wen Ran heard the door open. A few more steps and the low-altitude toss would be complete. He felt despair. Being thrown from the second floor wouldn't kill him, but he might fracture a bone. It would hurt a lot.

Without warning, the hand at his waist loosened. Weightlessness hit. He really was thrown. Less than half a second later he hit the ground. Wen Ran let out an 'ah'—Gu Yunchi had thrown him, blanket and all, onto the hallway floor like a garbage bag.

'Get housekeeping to come change the sheets.'

Gu Yunchi said coldly, then bang—the door shut again. Wen Ran lay quietly on the floor for a while, fumbling to pull the blanket apart and poke his head out from underneath.

BDH-339's hands, which had been nervously covering its mouth, finally lowered. Tearfully, it pulled Wen Ran up: 'Are you okay...'

'I'm fine.' Wen Ran stood up, still shaken, looked down at the blanket: 'What do we do with this?'

'Housekeeping will handle it. Don't worry. Let's go downstairs. I'm so scared he'll come out with a gun.'

Breakfast was being made. Wen Ran didn't dare stay to eat. While he was changing shoes, BDH-339 rushed over holding a paper bag: 'There are five Croissants and two sandwiches inside. The chef just made them. Don't go hungry. Eat on the way!'

Unable to refuse the Croissants, Wen Ran took them and said thanks. BDH-339 notified the driver for him, walked out with him, holding his hand: 'Thank you. You worked hard.'

'I didn't really do anything.' Wen Ran smiled, 'But I might be going to school. After next Monday I probably won't come by. If you need me, contact me again.'

BDH-339 blinked, then teared up: 'Then I hope Gu Yunchi gets a fever every day...'

Wen Ran: 'Maybe not...'